TSYS Department of Computer Science Columbus State University

TSYS School of Computer Science @ Columbus State University

Course Syllabus: CPSC 5157U – Computer Networks

Summer 2011

Instructor Information:

Radhouane Chouchane

Office: Center for Commerce and Technology, Room 430

Phone: (706) 568-5376

Email:

Homepage: http://csc.colstate.edu/chouchane

Office Hours: TWR 12:30 pm - 4:00 pm (Other times by appointment.)

Class Meetings:

Tuesday and Thursday from 2:05 pm to 5:15 pm

Room 408 Center for Commerce and Technology

Course Title: CPSC 5157U- Computer Networks

Official Course Description:

Local area networks, wide area networks, and internets. Protocols and the ISO Open Systems Interconnect reference model. Design, analysis, and performance evaluation. Emphasis on data link, network, and transport protocols.

Prerequisites: CPSC 2108 (Data Structures) with a grade of C or better.

Course Outcomes:

  • Students will demonstrate understanding of basic networking concepts.
  • Strategies and Actions used to produce the outcome
  • Examine the components of a local area network
  • Set up a local area network
  • Perform hands-on experiments using existing networking software
  • ABET Criteria Covered: A, C, and I
  • Program Objectives Covered: 2
  • Assessment Methods: Lab Assignments, Exam
  • Students will demonstrate understanding of how wide area networks and internets are designed and built, and the basics of how communication over a WAN or an internet takes place.
  • Strategies and Actions used to produce the outcome
  • Implement and run distributed applications that allow one machine to communicate with another on a network.
  • Extract and examine information (packet dumps) about computers connected to a wide area network or to the Internet.
  • ABET Criteria Covered: B and I
  • Program Objectives Covered: 1, 2
  • Assessment Methods: Lab Assignments, Exam
  • Students will demonstrate an understanding of network, data link, and transport protocols, as well as the OSI and the TCP/IP reference models.
  • Strategies and Actions used to produce the outcome
  • Analyze the design goals and choices of the OSI reference model
  • Analyze the design goals and choices of the TCP/IP reference model
  • Study various methods for implementing error detection and correction
  • Analyze the TCP and UDP transport protocols
  • ABET Criteria Covered: A, B, C, and I
  • Program Objectives Covered: 1, 2, and 3
  • Assessment Methods: Lab Assignments, Exam
  • Students will demonstrate knowledge of network performance and security issues.
  • Strategies and Actions used to produce the outcome
  • Study a number of basic routing and congestion algorithms
  • Perform hands-on experiments using existing packet sniffers such as tcpdump, and tshark
  • Study the impact of cryptography on network and protocol security
  • Perform hands-on experiments to detect the security vulnerabilities of networks and protocols
  • ABET Criteria Covered: A, B, C, E, G and I
  • Program Objectives Covered: 1, 2, 3, 4
  • Assessment Methods: Lab Assignments, Exam

Required Textbook:

/ Computer Networking: A Top-Down Approach 5th Ed.(Hardcover)
By James Kurose and Keith Ross
Publisher: Pearson
ISBN: 0-13-607967-9

Supplementary Materials:

  • “Computer Networks and Internets,” By Douglas Comer. ISBN: 0131433512
  • Your own class notes
  • In-class handouts and reading materials posted on the course's web site
  • Links to protocol simulators and other network simulators posted on the course's web site
  • A copy of the Wireshark network sniffing tool (http://www.wireshark.org/).

·  Websites containing material on network security, e.g., http://www.microsoft.com/security/default.aspx, http://www.blacksheepnetworks.com/security/info/misc/9907.html


Major Topics:

1)  Uses of Computer Networks

2)  Network Hardware and Network Software

3)  Local Area Networks, Wide Area Networks, Internets

4)  Wireless Networks

5)  The OSI and the TCP/IP Reference Models

6)  Transport Protocols (UDP and TCP)

7)  Network Performance Issues, Routing and Congestion Control Algorithms

8)  Network Security Issues: Authentication

Assessment Criteria:

Your performance will be evaluated via hands-on lab activities and one comprehensive final exam. Roll will be taken, and your attendance and class participation will be factored into the computation of your final grade. Assessment criteria will be weighted as follows:

Lab assignments 50%

One final exam 40%

Class Participation 10%


Letter grades will be assigned as follows:

A (90%-100%); B (80%-89%); C (70%-79%); D (60%-69%); F (0%-59%)

Tentative Schedule (Subject to change as we progress through the course)

Date / Topic / Work Due
Week 1 / Computer Networks and Internets
Week 2 / Application Layer / Lab 1 (tentative)
Week 3 / Transport Layer / Lab 2 (tentative)
Week 4 / Network Layer / Lab 3 (tentative)
Week 5 / Link Layer and LANs / Lab 4 (tentative)
Week 6 / Wireless and Mobile Networks / Lab 5 (tentative)
Week 7 / Review for the Final Exam / Final Exam: TBA

General Policies:

Students are expected to come prepared to class and maintain a well organized record of their own notes. At the very least, students should have read the chapter upon which the current lecture is based. Participation in class is crucial and is part of the student’s final grade.

Lab assignments are to be submitted via CougarVIEW. The lowest assignment will not be dropped!

Students are responsible for keeping pace with the progress of the course. Should any concerns about the course’s contents be addressed, students should immediately consult with the instructor by email or during office hours. In addition to regularly reading from the text book, students must visit the course’s website at least once a day for recent updates and announcements. Students must regularly check both their CSU and their CougarVIEW email accounts for messages from the instructor. Announcements made on CougarVIEW, and that are at least 24 hours old, will be assumed to have been read by their recipient(s). “I didn't know” is not excuse for not submitting an assignment in time.
Unless untimely submission of an assignment is due to a documented emergency reported to the instructor before the day on which the assignment is due, a penalty of 5% per day will be incurred for late assignments. Assignments submitted more than 3 days after their due date will be considered missed and will receive a grade of 0.

Make-up exams:

No make-up exams will be given, students must be sure to be present for their final exam. Unless they are due a documented emergency reported to the instructor in a timely fashion, a grade of 0 will be automatically assigned for missed exams.
Refer to the CSU catalog (http://aa.colstate.edu/advising/a.asp#AttendancePolicy) for more information on class attendance and withdrawal.

Attendance:

Attendance is mandatory. Missing class more than 3 consecutive times, or more than 10 times total, will result in a grade of WF in the class.

Academic dishonesty
Academic dishonesty includes, but is not limited to, activities such as cheating and plagiarism. It is a basis for disciplinary action. Collaboration is not permitted on assignments or exams/quizzes in this course. Any work turned in for individual credit must be entirely the work of the student submitting it. Students may share ideas but submitting identical answers to any one assignment question will be considered cheating.
Students may discuss course material and help one another with debugging, however, the instructor expects any work that a student hands in for a grade to be the student's own. Written and programming assignments may not contain sections that have been imported verbatim from an outside source, be it online (such as a web page) or offline (such as a book or an article). The penalty for the first occurrence of this type of academic dishonesty is a zero grade on the assignment; the penalty for the second occurrence is a failing grade for the course.
A simple way to avoid inadvertent plagiarism is to talk about the assignments, but students may not read each other's work or write solutions together. Students should consider keeping scratch paper and old versions of assignments until after the assignment has been graded and returned to them. Should students have any questions about this, they must see/contact the instructor immediately.
For assignments, access to notes, books and other publications is allowed. Stealing, giving or receiving any code, diagrams, drawings, texts or designs from another person (CSU or non-CSU) is not allowed. Having access to another person’s work on the system or giving access to one's work to another person is not allowed. It is the student's responsibility to keep her/his work confidential.
No cheating in any form will be tolerated. The penalty for the first occurrence of academic dishonesty is a zero grade on the assignment or exam/quiz; the penalty for the second occurrence is a failing grade for the course. For closed-books exams/quizzes, access to any type of written material or discussion of any kind (except with me) is not allowed. (http://aa.colstate.edu/advising/a.htm#Academic Dishonesty/Academic Misconduct)

CSU ADA Statement:

If you have a documented disability as described by the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (P.L. 933-112 Section 504) and Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and would like to request academic and/or physical accommodations please contact Joy Norman at the Office of Disability Services in the Center for Academic Support and Student Retention, Tucker Hall (706) 568-2330, as soon as possible. Course requirements will not be waived but reasonable accommodations may be provided as appropriate.

ABET Criteria:

A. An ability to apply knowledge of computing and mathematics appropriate to the discipline;

B. An ability to analyze a problem, and identify and define the computing requirements appropriate to its solution;

C. An ability to design, implement and evaluate a computer-based system, process, component, or program to meet desired needs;

D. An ability to function effectively on teams to accomplish a common goal;

E. An understanding of professional, ethical, legal, security, and social issues and responsibilities;

F. An ability to communicate effectively with a range of audiences;

G. An ability to analyze the local and global impact of computing on individuals, organizations and society;

H. Recognition of the need for, and an ability to engage in, continuing professional development;

I. An ability to use current techniques, skills, and tools necessary for computing practice.

J. An ability to apply mathematical foundations, algorithmic principles, and computer science theory in the modeling and design of computer-based systems in a way that demonstrates comprehension

of the tradeoffs involved in design choices;

K. An ability to apply design and development principles in the construction of software systems of varying complexity.

CS Program Objectives:

Our graduates will have achieved:

1) a broad general education assuring an adequate foundation in science and mathematics relevant to computing.

2) a solid understanding of concepts fundamental to the discipline of computer science.

3) good analytic, design, and implementation skills required to formulate and solve computing problems.
4) the ability to function and communicate effectively as ethically and social responsible computer science professionals.

Top View